CHAPTER 12: THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF VIS ENERGY (2)

«Blood Word: Weapon!»

Through my blood I cast the purple sword with extreame ease—even Ayra and Sasha look surprised.

Using a Blood Word in training, with no rush or pressure, is one thing, but executing it perfectly in a real fight is something else entirely.

I’m really amazing!

The Visanguis energy bursts out wildly, taking shape as a violet flame that matches the sword.

I charge at Angelica with a speed unthinkable just a few days ago.

I raise my blade, aiming for her arm, yet she doesn’t move an inch.

Why isn’t she reacting?

Maybe she doesn’t even see me... is she really that weak?

Ayra must have opposed this fight because she feared I’d hurt Angelica too badly.

Well, not my problem!

My blade is just a palm away from her arm when...

—CLANG!

What...?

The strike lands—the sword hits her arm, but... not even a scratch!

It’s like her skin is covered by an indestructible material.

How is this possible...?!

And yet, she’s human just like me!

Wait... that thin blue veil covering her body? It must be Vis energy.

The instant my blade clashes against that blue veil, she dashes forward like lightning.

Before I can even think of a reaction...

—SBOOM!

Her elbow crashes into my stomach.

I’m overwhelmed by immense force, as if hit by a truck, and in an instant I’m hurled across the arena.

Blood bursts from my mouth, pain tearing through my stomach.

But I can’t give up already!

I leap back to my feet—but Angelica is already in front of me.

Her torso twists slightly—she’s about to kick.

I barely manage to lift my sword, placing it between us in a desperate attempt to block or make her hesitate—but she doesn’t stop at all.

With power and speed far beyond mine, her foot smashes my blade like fragile glass, crashing against my forearm and sending me flying again.

Damn it...!

A burning pain tears through my right arm, the nerves so strained I can’t even grip the sword anymore.

«I think you’ve played enough, Angelica,» Clotilde’s voice echoes. «Finish him with your next attack!»

«As you command, my mistress!»

Angelica’s face, timid and hesitant before, lights up with sudden determination.

I try to take a defensive stance—the left arm stretched forward, the right hanging useless at my side.

If everything she’s done so far was only a game... I don’t even want to imagine what comes next!

No, I can’t panic!

This is the perfect moment to use the second Blood Word Lv.1 I learned—Deflect!

This spell can absorb and reflect physical attacks back at the enemy—exactly what I need to turn this around! Ayra will be proud of me!

Angelica bends her knees, clenching her fists—she’s about to strike!

I just need to cast the spell with perfect timing, and victory will be mine!

«Blood Word Lv.1 :Defl—»

Shit... how did she move so fast...?!

I didn’t even have the time to cast it...

Blood gushes from my mouth again, Angelica’s fist still buried in my stomach.

The dense red aura I had just gathered around my left hand vanishes into nothing.

My knees buckle instantly, my body—crushed by pain—collapses forward.

My face slams into the dirt as blood soaks the ground beneath me.

Through my blurred vision, I can still make out the faint blue glow wrapping Angelica’s body—Vis energy.

But unlike Gerard’s, which scattered after his defeat, hers is absorbed back into her body.

She crushed me with only three blows—and probably didn’t even put effort into it.

This girl is on a completely different level... and yet, she can’t be more than twelve or thirteen years old.

How the hell is she already this strong?!

«Come, Angelica. Let’s return to my quarters! Watching a fight always makes me hungry,» Clotilde orders, summoning her familiar.

Thinking of how Ayra used to feed on my blood...

Brrr. Just imagining that frail, petite girl in the clutches of that gorilla makes me shiver.

«This is the power of a familiar who can use Vis energy decently. I hope you’ve learned your lesson!» Clotilde scolds me before vanishing in a red flash.

D-Decently...?

Did she really say that?

That was only a decent use of Vis energy?!

I don’t even want to imagine what someone who fully masters it could do... probably demolish a mountain with a single punch!

«It would be rather cruel for Ayra to punish you after losing to Angelica Volkom...» Sasha sneers with a mocking grin.

«Normally, a familiar should be punished after a defeat... but for once I think that dead cat is right,» Ayra admits, stepping closer and offering me her hand. «After all, you lost to the fighter ranked number 48. You had no chance of winning from the start.»

W-What...?!

That brat... she’s ranked 48th?!

That means she lives in the ultra-luxurious Lunae Plenae dorm, pampered like she’s in a five-star resort?!

But more than that... there are 47 familiars even stronger than her?!

Unbelievable... but if that scrawny girl managed to become that strong, then I—who in my past life was a semi-professional athlete, and now am a Predestined Familiar—will catch up and surpass her in no time! But for now...

I need to focus on tomorrow’s fight.

I can’t afford to lose!